SYDNEY,
Oct 21--Christian
lobbyists called Wednesday for "satanic
high priest" Marilyn Manson to be
denied an Australian visa for a concert
tour next year.

A
spokesman for the lobbyists said the
macabre gender-bending male musician posed
a greater threat to Australians than
British right-wing historian David
Irving.

Irving,
who controversially disputes the
occurrence of the Jewish holocaust during
World War II, has been barred from
Australia on the grounds of
character.

"The
whole thing is absolutely sick and evil
and is far more dangerous to Australians
than that Irving bloke," said Christian
Democratic Party national president
Reverend Fred Nile.

Nile
said he would write to Immigration
Minister Philip Ruddock requesting
Manson's Florida-based goth-punk group,
each of them named after a serial killer,
be denied visas for their Big Day Out
Concert tour early next year.

The
chart-topping act is scheduled to play in
the Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne,
Adelaide and Perth from January
15-31.

Nile
said Manson posed more of a threat to
young Australians than past notorious pop
stars with reputations for on-stage
misbehaviour.

"Certainly
others have used evil as a gimmick but
this person really believes in evil," he
said.

"He's
recognised as a high priest by the Satanic
church, which is now registered as a
political party in Victoria, and they
welcome these concerts as a way of
converting young people to their beliefs."

CANBERRA,
Oct 22 AAP-
Satanic rock star Marilyn Manson's
application for an Australian entry visa
would be considered on merit, Immigration
Minister Philip Ruddock said
today.

Christian
groups have called for Manson's
Florida-based goth-punk group, each of
them named after a serial killer, to be
denied visas for the Big Day Out Concert
tour early next year.

A
spokesman for Mr Ruddock said Manson's
visa application would be considered on
its merits.

"All
non-citizens wishing to enter Australia
have to make an application," he said.
"Each application is considered strictly
on its merits against the legal
requirements of the migration
legislation."

But
he said laws giving the government more
powers to stop undesirable people entering
Australia would be in place now had the
so-called character bill, which clarifies
the character test applied to visa
applicants, not been delayed in the
Senate.

Mr
Ruddock first flagged the Migration
Legislation Amendment (strengthening
provisions relating to the character and
conduct) Bill 1997 after the Lorenzo
Ervin affair.

Ervin,
a black activist convicted of hijacking a
plane in the late 1960s, was thrown in
jail when he arrived in Brisbane in July
last year for a speaking tour. He was
released three days later after the
commonwealth backed down in a High Court
appeal against the decision, acknowledging
Mr Ervin had been denied natural
justice.

The
bill aims to tighten existing laws
including giving the minister the power in
special cases to refuse or cancel
visas.

Mr
Ruddock has in the past refused visas to
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and
British rightwing historian David
Irving, who disputes the occurrence of
the Jewish holocaust.

Christian
lobbyists said today that Manson posed a
greater threat to Australians than Irving.
Manson's chart-topping act is to play
concerts in Auckland, Gold Coast, Sydney,
Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth from January
15-31.

Our
opinion

SEEMS
to us as though Philip Ruddock
has weaved a tangled web, with the
special Lex Irving which his
party introduced in the Australian
Parliament after the historian
won
a court ruling
that an earlier ban on his (third)
visit to the country had been issued
illegally by the minister.

The
above news items are reproduced without editing
other than typographical